congregations in Canada, the EFC has its
own statement of faith which affiliate organizations agree on – virtually identical to
the one used by the World Evangelical Alliance and its affiliates worldwide.

“Statements of faith and codes of con-duct, which many Christian organizationshave, protect the organization and thepeople affiliated with them,” says Clemen-ger. “Such communal documents say,“This is who we are and the standards weshare.’ And they ask, ‘Are you comfortablehere? Is this where you belong?’ ”Maxwell agrees: “The primary reason forstatements of faith and community coven-ants is to establish an organization’s founda-tion and make those positions clear to itsvarious publics. In our case, potential stu-dents and faculty/staff members can knowwhat to expect when they arrive on campus.”Boldly stated and prominently pos-itioned codes of conduct, covenants andmission statements tend to be among thefirst things to greet visitors on many Chris-tian websites. Sometimes they requiresignatures to indicate acceptance andagreement – and a pledge to live by them– as at schools, social service groups andoften Christian summer camps. Some-times these statements of faith and codesare considered an implicit part of an em-ployment or attendance contract.

Statements of faith spell out doctrine.

Codes of conduct spell out the expecta-tions of personal behaviour that alignwith the values and beliefs of the organ-ization. Both styles have drawn public irein recent Canadian history.

Among the better-known Canadian codes
of conduct is the five-page “Community
Covenant Agreement” at Trinity Western
University in Langley, B.C. This document,
much in the news of late as the institution
seeks nationwide acceptance for graduates
of its proposed law school, commits students and staff to “voluntarily abstain” from
“sexual intimacy that violates the sacredness
of marriage between a man and a woman,”
and such activities as gossip, lying and
drinking alcohol or smoking on campus.

Separately, TWU faculty and staff are
required to sign, annually, a ten-point
statement of faith committing them to
“historic orthodox” Christian beliefs. But
they have choices. They can agree with
the entire statement or check a box stating they wish to clarify their understanding of one or more of the points.

TWU’s proposal to establish a law school(now scheduled to open in 2016 and gradu-ate its first class of 60 students in 2019)re-ignited a firestorm of controversy overthe TWU Community Covenant that lastburned high when the school was establish-ing its teachers college, ending with a Su-preme Court ruling in 2001 in favour ofTWU. The Canadian Council of Law Deansalleged that gay, lesbian or bisexual students“may be subject to disciplinary measures,including expulsion,” and remind that“discrimination on the basis of sexualorientation is unlawful in Canada andfundamentally at odds with the core valuesof all Canadian law schools.” The TWU lawschool situation continue to evolve.

TWU’s law school application received
green light by the Federation of Law Societies of Canada. However, some law societies decided to conduct their own independent reviews and establish their own
policies, with some outcomes still pending.

s Ta TEmENTs FoR sucH
a TImE as THIs

Both sets of TWU protocols are at least 45
years old and constitute what Bob Kuhn,
president of TWU, feels are the university’s
“foundational documents.” And Kuhn
argues these protocols, like similar rules
elsewhere, are now required more than
ever because of the need “to identify beliefs
and values of a community so that it is clear
what the community [bases] its fundamental existence on,” he said in an interview.

Kuhn acknowledges that at a Christian
institution of higher learning, or at any
obviously Christian organization, identifying its Christian character was something you used to simply assume.

But that’s changed.

“I think it’s less so now [given] variations on definitions of ‘Christian.’ Really
it’s a form of transparency [and] honesty
to admit that certain things are part of the
belief system of the community that calls
itself Trinity Western University,” says
Kuhn. And he knows of no example of
these covenants clashing with academic
freedom. Besides, “Academic freedom
must be defined to be understood. [It’s]
not a freedom to say and do anything one
wants. It has parameters, as any freedom.”

One of the problems religious commun-

IN-DEPTH REPORT

Codes of conduct spell out theexpectations of personal behaviourthat align with the values andbeliefs of the organization.

Many Christian organizations have both
statements of faith and codes of conduct.

They act as guiding documents for the
organization and those who join up. But
what’s the difference between the two?

Statements of faith normally consistof a list of beliefs that are doctrinal innature. They often begin with the phrase“We believe” and what follows is a list ofjust that. Tyndale University College &Seminary’s statement of faith, for example,begins with: “[1] there is but one true andliving God who exists eternally in threepersons, the Father, the Son and the HolySpirit. God alone is Creator, Preserver andGovernor of all things visible and invisible,at work in the world to redeem creation.”Community covenants (or codes ofconduct) have to do with the practicalliving out of those beliefs. The preambleto the “Community Covenant Agreement”of Trinity Western University, for example,states, “The community covenant is asolemn pledge in which members placethemselves under obligations on thepart of the institution to its members,the members to the institution, and themembers to one another. In making thispledge, members enter into a contractualagreement and a relational bond.”Statement or code: What’s the difference?